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Modern Cloud Contact Centers Can Drown In Data

Written by Michael Freeman | March 11, 2014

It should go without saying that businesses rely on customers to stay afloat. Every organization's best interest is to explore as many new ways as possible to enhance interactions with their clientele, namely in the way of the contact center. As the public face of the company, contact center representatives need to be enabled by the best tools available to handle help requests of all sizes. Technologically speaking, bolstering these departments used to be an involved and expensive process. The task of adding employees and creating further extensions was cumbersome and required large amounts of planning.

But advancements in telecommunications equipment and software have made it more viable than ever to invest in a next-generation contact center. This is especially true of networks launched in the cloud, where they can be readily accessed by the people that need them and require only an Internet connection to log in.

"Contact centers, long a mainstay of online business, are making a major transition from on-premises, legacy systems to cloud-based platforms. At this time, however, many businesses are still hesitant to make the move," said eWEEK contributor Chris Preimesberger. "Typically, on-premises solutions have been time-insensitive and have required multivendor technologies. The move to a cloud contact center allows for more flexibility, security and productivity. It also opens an opportunity for companies to adopt cost-efficient IT, which empowers [businesses] to be in control of their software."

But there is still a word of caution that has come with these new abilities. While it is critical to enable employees with cloud-based advantages, there is sure to be a windfall of data for which a precedent of use has yet to be set. Organizations with cloud contact centers are in a position where they will be able to leverage their technology for new purposes, but they are also at risk of drowning in all of the information they have suddenly found themselves in possession of.

With a cloud phone system augmented by up-to-date call center software, businesses can achieve new levels of customer satisfaction that are capable of driving further revenue. With that in mind, it will be the responsibility of the organization to sift through all of the data they are collecting in order to utilize it efficiently.

Cloud Contact Centers Becoming Essential To Business

Companies that are not yet exploring the cloud to some degree are not doing themselves any favors, namely with how easy it is move many daily operations there. Launching cloud-based communications services takes much less time and effort than was required by their copper-based predecessors. When coupled with how easy it is to integrate business applications like Salesforce and use them while working remotely, the cloud seems like a logical choice for business phone services.

Running call center software in conjunction with a cloud PBX also allows companies to expand or consolidate their operations as situations arise. If an increase in calls is expected during a certain portion of the year, all it takes is a request to the provider for more lines and extensions. Assuming these needs are only temporary, they can be removed just as quickly as they were added. This also means that a momentary surge in requests is not going to leave a business stuck footing a bill for something they will not use for longer than a few months.

Remote workers that are a part of a virtual call center will not only have access to voice networks when they are made available in the cloud, but they also can take advantage of modern analytical software in this way, as well. But while this can be a huge advantage, it is important to regulate the stream of information that is coming in.

Avoiding Data Overload

There are so many new and exciting possibilities for contact centers now that people are using smartphones more than ever. The degree to which a representative can learn about and assist a customer is much higher than it has been previously. But with all of this new information comes a warning - be selective in what is retained and employed.

"Many organizations suffer from a case of 'data for data's sake' - and contact centers are no exception," said Multichannel Merchant contributor Steve Wellen. "Data is inarguably important, but it has to be the right data for it to be useful."